


Night Terrors

by blazingsnark



Series: Queens of Steel; Servants of Iron [4]
Category: Elsword (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Looks like a character dies but it's not actually a thing dw, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-09 23:19:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12286311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blazingsnark/pseuds/blazingsnark
Summary: The night after Noblesse is coronated and Diabla is dragged to the dungeons, Demonio’s sleep takes him places he doesn’t want to be.





	Night Terrors

Demonio found himself in the throne room again, the leather mouthguard hot against his skin, shattered glass sparkling on the dais and Chiliarch kneeling before Diabla and his own blades at Dreadlord's throat.

Diabla laughed. Her glee washed over Demonio's mind and made him feel sick.

“Damn meddler,” she said, stretching out her hand.  Black chains wrapped around Chiliarch’s wrists and disrupted her gauntlets.  “When you’re dead, I’ll train Dreadlord just like Demonio and make him perfect.  You’ve corrupted him.”

Dreadlord struggled in Demonio's grip. He wanted to let go, to let Dreadlord save his Lu, but his body wouldn't obey him. Diabla-

no-

_His master_ made him stay.

Demonio felt his blade press deeper into Dreadlord's throat, saw a line of red appear on the thin skin there, felt Dreadlord go very, very still even though his eyes remained wide with panic. He swallowed. Diabla's laughter filled everything, every corner of his mind, hurting his head until he just wanted it to stop.

Dreadlord's terrified gaze caught and held his. Demonio couldn't look away. He heard a shriek, a clatter, and then Dreadlord gasped, the life leaving his body as Diabla sliced Chiliarch to bits.

Blood splattered on Demonio's mouthguard. There was blood in his hair. His master was there, letting Demonio release Dreadlord's still-warm body and stumble up and away, numb with grief.

“Good pet,” she said.

Demonio felt no warmth at the praise.

Still in her adult form, she knelt beside Dreadlord, scooping him up in her arms. The nobility had disappeared. Noblesse and Royal Guard were gone. It was just them and Chiliarch's fading body and Dreadlord, alone on a bloodstained dais.

His master ran clawed fingers up Dreadlord's chest.

“Pretty,” she said admiringly. “Sharp as a blade. You'll be perfect in my service, won't you?”

Demonio wanted to scream, to reach out, to do _something_. But he was frozen again. His master leaned close to Dreadlord's corpse, fitting her lips over his, defiling his body with her touch.

It was barely a moment before Dreadlord's eyes opened again, blue irises rimmed with black, his muscles lax and trusting in Diabla's clawed embrace.

 

Demonio woke with a scream.

He clapped a hand over his mouth and sat bolt upright, fumbling the covers off of his body. The shadows of the room seemed to move. She was there, wasn't she? She'd escaped her cell in the dungeon and she was going to punish Demonio, it was his fault that her plans hadn't worked-

“Dem?”

Demonio turned, seeing his love's blue eyes in the darkness, bed-mussed white hair gleaming in the moonlight. Dreadlord was alive. Dreadlord was contracted to Chiliarch, and Diabla was in the dungeons, awaiting sentencing.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered.

Dreadlord yawned, then reached out. Demonio gratefully allowed himself to be pulled into his boyfriend's embrace, relaxing into the way Dreadlord rubbed his scarred back, burying his head in Dreadlord's shoulder.

“She had you,” he whispered. He didn't need to name Diabla. What other demon was he terrified of? “She contracted with you, and-”

“It was just a dream.” Dreadlord cut Demonio off with that firm kindness that Demonio loved so much about him. His body relaxed again, his lips pressing to the top of Demonio's head. “You're safe. We both are. She can't hurt you anymore.”

Demonio nodded even though he knew it was a lie.

Diabla was still alive. She still held Demonio's contract. And as long as those two things were true, his master would find a way to punish him.


End file.
